I was just finishing off my beer in a bar in Phnom Penh, Cambodia when a young woman walked into the bar with an AK-47 over her shoulder.  She looked at me and smiled, then plopped the AK on the table next to me with the barrel pointed just in front of me.  Hmmm.well, I slugged the last of my beer, paid and wandered over to get a closer look at the Kalashnikov.   Nice..I walked out into the street to find a cop running around frantically, should I stay or should I go?   Finally the woman in the bar comes walking out with the gun and hands it to the policeman.  He seemed quite relieved and highly embarrassed (I was watching the whole episode).   It seems he had somehow misplaced the gun and the woman had found it and decided it was safer for her to bring it into the bar rather than having it lie around in the street.

     After this incident I finally said to myself I need to start writing down some of the adventures I have been having.  Chris Lennert had asked me to write up something about my motorcycle ride to S America last year, but the 700 mile weeklong ride that I just finished is relatively fresh in my mind.

     This is my 8th trip into Cambodia in the last 5 years, and I love it more every time!  I started this trip at the border town of Koh Kong on the Gulf of Thailand.  I stayed with my friend Otto, a German friend that owns a small guesthouse/restaurant in town.  His 91 year old mom, Krystal, had just moved to Cambodia in November.  I spent my first evening drinking beers with the oldest ex-pat in Cambodia and catching up with Otto!  My plan from here was to take 4 hour speedboat ride down the coast to Sihanoukville, Cambodia's only deep water port,  and meet up with another German buddy, Werner.  Werner was sitting on the deck of the hotel when I arrived in early afternoon.  We had motorcycled together over 3000 miles in Cambodia over the last few years and were anticipating another epic adventure.  I had been traveling hard the last few days and decided to hang out for a few days and check out the beaches around Sihanoukville.  We rented 90 cc scooters one day and headed east along the coast to Ream national Park.  Past the park we found a couple of completely untouched white sand beaches, unheard of in neighboring Thailand!  We discussed our plan for the big ride ahead.  We jumped on a bus and took the 4 hour trip into Phnom Penh to line up 250 cc Honda dirt bikes, maps, and all other necessary supplies.   Arriving in Phnom Penh in late afternoon, we found rooms at the lakeside and had a cold frosty one on the deck of the #9 Guesthouse..yeehawww!!  The next day we spent running around my favorite city in the world, I'm not a big city person, but Phnom Penh rocks!  We ran down to the Central Market to find pirated maps and guidebooks for a few bucks, then down to Angkor Bikes to line up our rides.  The nice lady said, 'ahh, old customers, you get good price!'.  So for $10/day, I had a nice Honda 250 Baja for the next week.  Werner told her that we would be out 5-7 days, which was no problem she said.  We got up bright and early the next day and went down to pick up our bikes to get an early start to our ride into North Central Cambodia.   We wanted to do a loop but all info on one section of the ride was nonexistent.  We knew of a bar where some bikers hung out and stopped had asked about this section.  The guy said he had heard of a couple of Australians that had done a similar route and he thought it was possible.  We were eager to find out and knew this would be the crux of the ride!

Day 1 - Driving out of the capital is always a challenge, competing with trucks, thousands of scooters, stolen SUVs, UN Toyota Landcruisers(driving like idiots, more on that later),  pushcarts, animals, kids, and anything else that might be considered a vehicle.  It is pretty much chaos and anarchy in the streets, nobody has a license and oncoming traffic comes on both sides of you, but people tend to drive on the right, but don't expect it!  We decided to head up the west bank of the Tonle Sap River out of Phnom Penh for about 20 miles before crossing on the ferry.  We were heading to Kompong Thom, the provincial capital of the province with the same name, which was about 100 miles due north of Phnom Penh.  The roads were all paved and we arrived in Kompong Thom in the early afternoon, found a hotel, dropped our bags, grabbed a quick noodle soup for lunch and  and headed to Phnom Sontuk.   (FYI - Phnom means hill in Kmer (Cambodian), so Phnom Penh would be Penh's Hill.  Penh was the woman who found 4 Buddha's on a hill in the 1300's where the capital is now located.   Another interesting note is that the new American Embassy sits below this hill, it is a complete monstrosity that is bigger than the Royal Palace, if anyone can help me out as to why we need such an embassy in Cambodia, I would love to hear it.  It still seems to be quite inefficient, as there is a line halfway around it everyday with people trying to do business.)  Back to the story,  Phnom Sontuk is about 15 miles from Kompong Thom and is the most important holy mountain in the region.   There is a beautiful Wat (monastery) on top with an active community of monks and nuns running around.   There were great views of the surrounding area and a lot of interesting colorful temples also.  We headed back to our hotel before sunset to round up dinner.  The best hotel and restaurant was around the corner from where we were staying and a few UN World Food Program Landcruisers were parked in front.  As far as I can tell, these guys drive around at top speed running people off the road to get to the next town to eat at the best restaurants, this seems to be the world food program, it is outrageous!!  Werner and I ate down the street aways before crashing early.

    Day 2 would take us into the Prey Vihear Province, the last holdout for Pol Pot and the Kmer Rouge.  It is one of the most heavily mined areas in Cambodia as the Kmer Rouge were laying mines up until the mid 1990's, at which time the fighting arm of the KR was finally crushed in 1998.  We got an early start after having some fantastic coffee for breakfast.  The French left something good behind, you can always get a fresh baguette and good coffee almost anywhere in this former colony!  From Kompong Thom, we headed north and the road was not paved.  The first stop would be Sanbor Prei Kuk, which are pre-Angkorian temples built in the 7th century.  It is also pre Buddhist, which means these are Hindu temples.  Not a lot of tourists in this area, so very peaceful while we walked thru the jungle around the temples.  Our next stop we wanted to check out Preah Khan, which was about 55 miles north on a dirt road in good condition.  By this time the heat was cranking up and the 2 cups of coffee I had was not a good thing.  I had over-amped on caffeine and was feeling a little lightheaded.  I had to stop a few times, drink some water and rest in the shade trying to pull it together.   We finally hit the town of Phnom Dek and decided to have a lunch.  The food helped me out tremendously, but by this time it was after 1 pm and the heat was extraordinary.  We talked to some locals about the trail to Preah Khan and they said it was only about 1 kilometer north of town.  We located the trail (notice I didn't say road) and estimated that the temple ruins were about 20 miles due west.  Heading west about one mile the trail forked, luckily there were a few small huts nearby and we asked which way and we were off again.   About another mile or so we came across a CMAC team (Cambodian Mine Action Centre) clearing minefields on both sides of the trail.  The guy about 5 feet away was poking a stick in the ground and I was starting to get a little nervous.  He noticed this and laughed because he was actually just trying to get a lizard out of his hole, not clearing a mine as I had thought.   The CMAC team assured us that we were on the right trail and off we went.  Another mile or so the trail forked again and I just took the trail to the left.  The sand was getting deep like beach sand and it became quite a grind in the brutal heat.  I couldn't go fast enough to keep me and the engine cool.  I was going through a field and then said to myself, what the hell did I just run over..hmmmm.  I carefully got off my bike and walked back on the path I had just came in on and yep, I had just run over a minefield sign that had fallen down.  I looked around and realized I had ridden right into a well marked minefield, but I was on a path.  A couple of minutes later Werner shows up and I pickup the sign and show it to him.  The markers for the minefield came right up to the path we were on, we must be very careful now.  I stuffed the sign in my bag, nice souvenir if I get out of here.   We decide to keep on the track but it keeps degrading and the heat is starting to really get to us.   The deep sand and route finding became unbearable.  We finally decide that we should turn around and leave this temple for another day.  If we try this one again we need to stay in Phnom Dek and start much earlier in the day and plan to camp at the temple.   Riding back out the few miles we did cover was tedious at best, we were tired and didn't want to crash and fall off the trail..could be very hazardous to our health.  We passed the mineclearing team again and waved as we made it back to the main dirt road going north.  On to Tbeng Meanchy (TBY), the provincial capital of Preah Vihear.  It was another 40 plus miles north through the mountains.  The road was dusty, but tolerable, as we passed through some small villages.  At this point we were hitting rock star status because whenever we stopped for a break, every kid in town would mob us and say hello.  Not too many long noses make it out this far.  Arriving in the sleepy town of TBY, we find  a restaurant and get them to put a few beers on ice.  After one beer we decide to find a hotel and get cleaned up, we were completely shattered from the long day in the hot sun.  Heading back to the restaurant later that evening we look over the menu..interesting stuff,  Gary Thailand Food,  Mined Pork, and Cow sleep are on the menu???   I said to Werner, Cow Sleep is probably cow lips, I had seen them in a market a few days ago.  The waiter comes up to us and recommends "Sleeping Cow", how can we say no to this?   We get another couple of beers going and order some rice and mixed vegetables to go with our sleeping cow and wait to see what comes up.  To my surprise, a big plate of sizzling beef shows up, very similar to fajita-style beef, with the veggies and it turns out to be a fantastic meal.  I would never have ordered that menu item, but it turned out to be one of the best meals I had in a while.

    Day 3 was going to be a tour of the temples at Koh Ker, about 50 miles on a good dirt road due west of TBY.  We got an early start and arrived at the temples in about 2 hours.  We spent over 5 hours exploring the area.  Koh Ker has the only Aztec-like pyramid in Cambodia which was quite impressive rising out of the surrounding jungle.  Also at Koh Ker are the largest lingas, phallic symbols, in Cambodia.  Most of these have been stolen out of the other temples in Cambodia, but these are still there.  There were also a lot of marked minefields in this area, and we definitely had to stay on the beaten track in this area.   The banyon trees here grow right out of the old stone structures, giving the whole area a surreal appearance.   We took a coconut break, which is the best way to get liquids out in the country if no water is available and finished up checking out the area.   We headed back to TBY late in the afternoon and went back and ordered more sleeping cow and beers!

    Day 4 was the big question mark on this ride.  Was it possible to go about 100 miles due east to the Mekong River and cross over to Stung Treng, the last major town you hit along the Mekong before entering Laos.   Our map showed a numbered road starting about 3 miles west of town going north, then cutting east to Stung Treng.  We got an early start and spent about an hour looking for the road on the east side of town, no luck!   Finally we head back into town and head north from there asking for the town of Mlu Prey about a third of the way towards our destination.  Finally somebody recognizes my butchered Kmer and points us in the right direction.   We go around the corner and look at a bamboo bridge too small for any but scooters and our motorcycles.   We pay the 1000 Riel toll, about 25 cents and soon realize that this numbered road was only somebody's dream.   There are no vehicles except oxcarts and the occasional scooter.   We plow through deep sand for about 20 miles passing by the occasional bamboo hut here and there.   We are getting quite remote.  I ask a local where Mlu Prey is and he waves us on, good we are going in the right direction.  We had hoped to get some lunch in Mlu Prey, but quickly realize that the town is just a small gathering of huts with no amenities.  We now realized that we had a big day in front of us!  The next town we were looking for was Chaap.   Luckily the single track at this point was getting a little more solid and we were not struggling in the deep sand anymore.  We arrived in Chaap to find a shop with bottled water and peanuts, ah, lunch!!  We were also able to buy some gas out of 2 liter coke bottles and off we went.   Chaap was the halfway point and if we didn't keep moving we wouldn't make it buy nightfall.  Werner had a hammock and I had my sleeping bag just in case.  The path follows along the Laos border to Stung Treng.  The path forks quite often and I usually took the most easterly and well worn track.  This worked great until I realized that I had lost Werner, I had to backtrack and I found his track in the dirt go off in a different direction.  I followed his tracks until I came around a corner and he was heading my way.  He said he didn't think he had headed in the right direction and we went back to the last fork and started east again.   I usually ride ahead of Werner in the sandy sections as it gets too dusty to ride close together.   I hit another fork in the trail and this time stop to wait for Werner, which way to go?   I hear a bike coming through the woods, it is a guy on a scooter.   He tells me the trail that goes to the left goes into Laos.  This is definitely an illegal (smuggling) route into Laos and he says I shouldn't go that way, sounds like good advice to me!  I wait for Werner and tell him the story before taking the fork to the right.  A few miles later I come around the corner and there is a group of Kmers on the side of the trail, one of them holding an AK-47, this should be interesting.   They seem a bit surprised to see me coming so I stop and smile, what else can I do at this point.  I asked the man holding the gun if I was going in the right direction and he said yes.  I decided it would be best to wait up ahead for Werner, I felt a little uncomfortable with these guys.  I waited a bit and Werner finally showed up, he didn't see the group that I had just seen and off we went again.  We still had 35-40 miles to go and it was mid afternoon.   Following the single track through the jungle, we stopped every 7-8 miles to take a quick water break.  My bike was getting very hot and Werner and I both needed the rest, but we had to keep pushing to get to Stung Treng before dark.  Finally we hit a much more substantial dirt road and we knew we were close.   After some confusion over directions by the locals, we headed east again.   We came into a small village and I finally saw the mighty Mekong, I was very psyched at this point, we made it!   Since there were no cars on this side of the Mekong, there were no proper ferry boats to get across.   The passenger ferries were just oversized longtail boats.  Werner went for a coconut break and I decided a beer was much more appropriate.  I found someone and negotiated a ride on a boat for the bikes.  We had to drive down a steep ramp, through a few feet of water, then up another ramp onto a pier.  Once on the pier I was told to ride the bike onto the bow of the boat.  It was a little tricky as the boat would move away from the pier a couple of feet and then sway back.  I waited until the boat moved against the pier and accelerated enough to get the front end of the bike into the boat, which was also about a foot drop from the pier.  I waited until the boat came back against the pier and managed to get the rest of the bike on the boat without losing the bike in the river.  The bike fit snugly between the sides of the boat.  Werner was next up and he also managed to get his bike in using the same technique.  We headed across the Mekong as the sun was setting.   We were not going to be able to ride the bikes out of the boat like we rode them in.  With the help of a few friendly locals, we were able to lift the bikes out of the boat and onto the docks at Stung Treng.  We only had to ride about 1 minute to the nearest hotel/restaurant.  As we pulled in, everyone on the front patio just stared at us, we were completely covered in red dirt and completely shattered.   The ride took 9 ½ hours and we had gone only 100 miles, this was the most grueling day of riding I could remember doing.  We sat down and ordered a Beer Lao trying to pull it together.   After checking into the hotel and showering, I was almost too tired to eat, but knew it would be best if I did.  We managed to get food and then crashed out just after 8 pm.

   Day 5 took us from Stung Treng to Kratie on a new road that we had been on 2 years prior while it was still under construction.  After day4, this was a welcome relief, but we still took our time, stopped for a coconut break and found a scenic detour that took us along the Mekong River.  Also at the fork in the road where we took our detour was a little restaurant.  For 500 riel (about 12 cents), I had the best cup of coffee I've ever had, Starbucks can take a leap!  I gues the French did leave something good behind in Indochina, you can get great coffee and a fresh baguette almost anywhere in Cambodia, Vietnam or Laos.  We came to the Mekong where the very few freshwater dolphins still survive, although they were nowhere to be seen on this day.  Just north along the river a few miles is the largest Buddhist temple in Cambodia, Wat Sar Sar Myoy Ro.  We headed there for a quick look and found a great river view to have lunch and watch the longtail boats go by.  After lunch we headed back south to Kratie.  I have been to Kratie on a previous trip and really enjoy the friendly people in a fantastic setting along the east bank of the Mekong.  The sunset over the river is spectacular!   That evening we flipped on the TV and watched Al Jazeera in English for the first time.  Pretty interesting stuff, I don't know if it is broadcast in the States yet, but it should be, at least we would see another perspective!  They did have a hilarious clip of John Edwards getting his makeup put on with the music "I'm so pretty, oh so pretty..." playing in the background, Werner and I got a good chuckle from that one!

   From Kratie, it is an easy one day ride on paved roads to Phnom Penh, but we decided to take the scenic route on Day 6 and stretch the ride out over a couple more days.  Our map showed a dirt track along the Mekong about 75 miles to the bridge at Kompong Cham, our destination for the day.  The track, it was hard to call it a road sometimes,  went through many small fishing villages and farming communities.   At one point I started to noticing these 2 story buildings with clay sealant on them, with vents on the top.  They were drying something and I finally pulled over to find out what.  It turned out to be tobacco for the local villages, these were not large scale commercial operations, just to support the local economy.  The majority of the people living along this stretch were Chams, the name of Muslim communities in SE Asia.  I guess I should have realized this before as I was heading to Kompong Cham, but it didn't register until I noticed the dozen or more mosques that dotted the route that day.  Pulling into Kompong Cham I immediately noticed the multitude of new scooters for sale in town.  The economy in this part of Cambodia seems to be booming with new vehicles and new construction along the river.